United They Learn
by Karete-chan
Summary: What would we do if this happened? Really?


**Disclaimer:** I don't own any character or person that may or may not appear in this story. The identity of the speakers is entirely up to the imagination of the reader.

**Author's note:** I usually leave this until the end of the story but I thought it would be more appropriate at the beginning of this one.

This idea popped into my head yesterday for reasons known only to it (I never get any explanations). It's not very long and slightly weird and took me very little time to write. Don't let that put you off. Just read.

This is dedicated to all fanfiction writers everywhere.

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**United They Learn **

By Karete-chan

They didn't know how they got there, or even where 'there' was. They did know that there were a lot of them and that it was cramped.

They stood in a circle of light, their faces screwed up in confusion or anger, huddled together with their family or friends. The source of the light came from directly above them and ended a few feet from the edge of the huddled mass, leaving pitch-blackness to cover the stone floor that extended beyond.

Muttered cursing and whispers erupted from the crowd as they discovered that they could not approach the edge, as it simply moved away from them. Those who could fly took to the air to investigate the source of light but the bright circle also moved away as they approached.

"Welcome," a man's voice spoke.

The crowd turned as one towards the voice. No one stood in the darkness, no shape moved, nothing happened to indicate that there was someone there. Until he spoke again.

"I am dreadfully sorry about this. It was all put together in rather a hurry, you see."

"Where's here?" someone called from the crowd. "Where are you?"

"Standing in front of you."

"Why can't we see you?"

There was a chuckle. "We can't stand in the light. Not here at least. It is meant only for you."

A young woman pushed forward. "We?" she asked, her eyes glinting with intelligence beyond her years. "How many of you are there?"

"More than even we know of," a soft female voice answered from somewhere to the right of the man. "We are growing all the time."

"So why are we here then?" the same young woman asked to a background of mutterings from the crowd.

The man spoke again. "One of us has been…thinking too much. Our worlds often collide without your knowledge but it seems this time that you are wide awake."

"What do you mean without our knowledge? I don't know about the rest of these weaklings but no-one controls me!" One of the hovering males shook his fist towards the darkness.

The soft female voice laughed. "Oh, we control you all the time." She paused and in the silence gave the direct impression that she was grinning. "Especially you, my fiery friend. You're one of the favourites to…toy with, as it is."

From the darkness that surrounded the crowd, snorts and tinkles of laughter erupted. A shout from the opposite end called, "Yeah. We _toy_ with them all right."

"Silence," the male said, though he sounded amused. "They do not deserve this."

"Then tell us why we are here," the young woman said, her arms crossing over her chest. Who are you?"

"You are here because you are the canons," the soft female voice replied. "You are the heroes, the heroines, the villains, the villainesses. You are the ones your creators invented to take part in their stories. You are loved or hated or both. You are the ones whose stories have ended or will end one day. And you are the ones who will never die."

"We will not let you," the man said from beside her.

"If we are what you say we are," the young woman began.

"I am," the hovering male said to various snickers from the darkness.

The young woman glared at him. "If we are who you say we are, then we will simply defeat you."

"It is not that simple," the man said. "Even if you were able to destroy one of us somehow, another would appear to take their place. We are never-ending."

"And just what is it that gives you so much power over us?"

There was no answer. Instead a shuffling noise came from the dark and then something appeared. An arm emerged from the darkness, the hand curled into a fist. It slowly uncurled and left a sole object lying in its palm. The crowd lent forward in order to get a better view.

"This," the man answered, the lone pen sitting innocently in his hand.

"And this," the woman extended her arm, her hand holding a single sheet of paper.

"And this," a third, much younger voice added. A slim black box was proffered in front of them. "I would have brought a real computer, because that's most of us use, but they're a bit heavy to hold up all at once. Besides, I like laptops."

There was silence.

"Yes. Thankyou for that, newbie," the man said.

"You control us with words?" the young woman in the light said sceptically.

"We do."

"For the last time," the hovering male yelled, wind whipping around him in his anger. "No-one controls me!"

Giggling came from somewhere to the left of the man in the darkness. There was some hurried whispering and a young girl said, "Oh yeah?" Her hands appeared holding a sheet of paper with several lines of writing. She held a pen to the page. "Full. Stop." And she pressed the pen down.

The hovering man immediately went into a series of aerial acrobatics. Laughter howled out from the darkness as the crowd in the light stared, horror-struck, at the spectacle.

"Cease this!" the soft voiced woman cried harshly. "We are not here to tease or harm. That is not what we are about."

Shredded pieces of paper floated to the ground and the flying man stopped halfway through a back flip. His face was livid. "No?" he bit out, in a clear attempt to control his anger. "Then what?"

"None of us wanted to see your stories end," the woman sighed. "So we keep them going, even if that means changing them a little bit."

"This is what this is," the man in the dark continued. "A story. You are the characters, always in the spotlight. We are behind you, controlling your movements." There was a pause where the people in the light got the distinct impression that he was smiling. "Your creators do not like it. But it is all in fun to us."

"Fun?" the young woman in the light repeated. "Controlling others without their consent is fun?" She approached the edge of the light menacingly. "Where do you get off…"

"Oh my," the soft voiced woman said. "I think my husband just came home."

"Ack! My parents just pulled into the driveway! I haven't done my homework!" the young voice from the darkness cried as the sound of a laptop snapping shut echoed in everyone's ears.

"I probably should get some sleep. I've got seven o'clock classes tomorrow," another voice yawned.

"Wait, why in the world are we here?" the young woman tried again.

The man in the darkness answered. "Because we just thought that you should know."

The darkness disappeared.

So did the light.


End file.
